Sheeter



1, 1956 J. D. CONTl 2,759,543

'SHEETER Filed May 26, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JOHN q, co/vr/ I BY 4 ATTORNE Aug. 21, 1956 J. D. CONT! 2,759,543

SHEETERY Filed May 26, 1950- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. (JOHN D. CONTI.

, ATTOHNE United States Patent SHEETER John D. Conti, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application May 26, 1950, Serial No. 164,383

7 Claims. (Cl. 164-61) The present invention relates to the cutting of sheets from a continuous web of material. More particularly, the invention relates to a mechanism for cutting sheets from a continuous web of material which mechanism also sorts and stacks the sheets subsequent to their being severed from the continuous web.

Paper, cellulose materials and the like, are customarily manufactured in roll form, i. e., a continuous web is produced and sold to manufacturers of various commodities in roll form. It is therefore necessary to cut the rolled material into individual sheets for use as wrappers and the like.

The rolls of web material are usually cut into sheets in a continuous manner and at relatively high speeds. As a consequence suitable apparatus for collecting and stacking the sheets thus severed must be supplied. However, considerable difficulty has been experienced in providing such apparatus. It has been attempted to obtain the desired result by the use of rapidly moving gripper fingers which seize the successive sheets and move them to a common discharge point where the fingers open. Such an arrangement, as well as numerous others which involve mechanical movements for operation upon each of the successive sheets, have not proven satisfactory because of the adhesion of the sheets to the gripper fingers and because of the inertia of the various moving parts and the rapid wear thereof when high speed operation is attempted. Thus an apparatus having a minimum amount of mechanical movement is desirable.

Further, in the manufacture of continuous web material the same will vary in quality, thickness, and the like along its length. Thus a roll of such material will not be uniform throughout. As a consequence, when the same is cut into sheets, they will vary in quality and not all will be suitable for the same purpose. Thus it is necessary to separate the sheets into groups of firsts, seconds, etc. or to sort or classify the same. It is necessary that the sorter or classifier apparatus operate at high speed without damaging the sheets and that the same pile or stack the sheets so that they can be handled conveniently.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which automatically cuts a continuous web of material into sheets, and sorts and stacks the sheets. Another object of the invention is to provide such an apparatus which is capable of operating at high speeds. Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which piles or stacks the cut sheets without damaging them. Other objects, and advantages of the present invention will be obvious from the description thereof hereinafter.

In conjunction with the following description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, which is merely intended to be illustrative and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus,

Patented Aug. 21, 1956 Figure 3 is a view of the stacking or sheet lay-oil drum taken along the line III-III of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a sectional end elevation of the vacuum chamber, and

Figure 5 is a sectional end elevation of the compressed air chamber.

While the present invention will be described as the same is employed in connection with regenerated cellulose web material, commonly referred to as cellophane, the same is not intended to be limited thereby, since the invention is equally applicable to other web material such as paper, films of plastic, cellulose derivatives, and other artificial and natural materials, and the like.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a stock roll 3 of web material, for example cellophane, is mounted transverse of the machine on side panels 4 and 4a of the machine frame. The sheet 5 of cellophane is passed over the idler roll 6 and into the nip of the feed rolls 7 and 8, all of the rolls herein being mounted transverse of the machine on side panels 4 and 4a. It is to be noted however, that the idler roll 6 is mounted in the vertical slot 9 in panel 4, there being a corresponding slot in panel 4a. When the machine is threaded at the start of operation, the roll 6 is in the dotted line position 6a. After the sheet has been passed over roll 6 or after the machine has been threaded, roll 6 is raised to the position shown and held there by any suitable means. The purpose of this is to provide an inspection area B, which of course can be made of any desired size by increasing or decreasing the length of slots 9.

When the apparatus is employed in conjunction with a transparent material such as cellophane, a suitable background must be furnished in order to enable one to see any flaws or irregularities in the web. One suitable material which may be employed for this purpose is a black fabric sheet 10 mounted on a spring-wind roller 11 which in turn is mounted in the box 12. The box is mounted on panels 4 and 4a transverse of the machine. The screen 10 is pulled up between the ascending and descending paths of cellophane sheet 5 when roll 6 is raised, by means of hooks 14 and 14a mounted on either side of roll 6 or shaft 6b and in which the rod 13 is placed.

After the film or web passes between the feed rolls 7 and 8 it passes over the roll 15 which has a hard and resilient surface such as of hard rubber. At the same time, the web passes under the rotary knives 16 and 16a which are positioned directly above roll 15 and in contact with the same. The knives are adjustably mounted on the shaft 17 and are adjustable transverse of the web. The purpose of these knives is to trim 011 the edges of the web material where the same may be necessary, for example to insure uniform size in the finished cut sheets and, as in the case of cellophane, to trim off the thicker edge portions of the film.

The edge portions 5b which are trimmed ofi are disposed of by being directed into the vertical conduits 18 and 18a. The waste strips 5b are carried down into the conduit 19 by means of compressed air and then to a waste storage bin (not shown). Compressed air conduits 26 and Ztla extend into the conduits 18 and 18a respectively and the air is directed downwardly by means of jets 21. Of course, should the web material be of such nature that edge trimming thereof is unnecessary, then the knives 16 and 16a are moved over against panels 4 and 4a out of cutting position.

The trimmed sheet or Web then passes between a second set of feed rollers 22 and 23 which are driven at the same peripheral speed as rollers 7 and 8. Then the sheet passes between rollers 24 and 25. Extending outwardly from the surface of roll 24 and transverse of the direction of travel of the sheet is a knife blade 26. Roll 25 is covered with a resilient material such as rubber to withstand the action of blade 26 and not damage the same. Thus with every revolution of roll 24, a portion of the web or sheet is cut off. Rolls 24 and 25 therefore, comprise a rotary cutter.

Before the web or sheet is cut by the rotary cutter, the leading edge of the same has entered the nip formed by pressure roll 27, which is positively driven, and the rotating drum 28. As the cellophane sheet passes over the drum 28, the leading edge is held fast to the same by means of a vacuum which is communicated from inside the drum to the surfaces thereof by means of openings 29 in the shell of the hollow drum and adjacent the edge thereof. The specific structure of the hollow drum 28 is described hereinafter.

The cut sheet is carried around by the drum to the bottom thereof where it is released in stacking position. When the sheet reaches the bottom of the drum in stacking position, the vacuum is cut off thus releasing the sheet. Prior to the releasing of the sheet, however, the trailing edge of the sheet is directed downward and away from the surface of the drum by a blast of compressed air directed from inside the drum through the openings 30 in the surface thereof. Both the openings 29 and 30 may be of any desired size and shape that is found convenient, such as circular, elliptical, rectangular, etc. The purpose of the air blast is to straighten each sheet out and thereby insure even and rapid stacking.

The sheets are released against stationary stop bars 31 for uniform stacking. These bars as preferably rubber covered to prevent damage to the edges of the sheets. The stop bars 31 extend slightly into the grooves 32 in the face of the drum 28 in order to prevent any sheets from passing beyond the position of the stop bars.

The sheets 33 are deposited, stacked, or piled on the vertically movable platform or lift 34 which automatically drops in height as the pile of sheets thereon builds up. It is to be noted that the stop bars 31 extend downwardly through openings in one edge of the lift. Any type mechanism may be employed in raising and lowering the lift, a ratchet means such as that shown in U. S. Patent 2,027,177 being satisfactory.

The rolls 7, 8, 22, 23, 27 and drum 28 are all positively driven from the same power source (not shown) and are driven at the same peripheral speed. The length of the cut sheet is controlled by the rotary knife 26. The rotary knife may be positioned any distance from the nip formed by roll 27 and drum 28 depending on the size sheet being cut. The peripheral speed of the rotary knife or rolls 24 and 25 is variable and may be mechanically controlled and operated through a variable speed transmission, or change speed gears may be employed. The power to drive rolls 24 and 25 is received from the central driving mechanism. By varying the speed of rollers 24 and 25 the size of the cut sheet may be varied.

When the operator upon inspection judges the web material to be of second or poor quality, he will cause the cut sheets of the same to bypass the lift 34 and allow them to go on to another drum 35 where the sheets will be stacked in like manner as previously described.

Extending between the nip formed by roll 27 and drum 28 and the nip formed by roll 36 and drum 35 is a platform 37 which is hinged at 33 adjacent drum 28. The hinged portion 37a is forked and has prongs 39 extending toward the nip formed by roll 27 and drum 28. The prongs 39 fit into the grooves 32 on the surface of drum 28 when they are lowered to the dotted line position 37b shown in Figure 1 and serve as a means for stripping the sheet from the drum 28. A tension spring 40, fastened between the arm 41, extending outwardly from the hinged portion 37a of the platform 37, and the machine frame normally holds 37a in the raised position, shown in Figure l, away from the surfaces of drum 28. An armature 42,

operated by solenoid 43, in connected to the underside of the arm 41. When the solenoid is actuated, armature 42 is pulled down which in turn pulls the prongs 39 down into the grooves 32 on drum 28, and then the hinged portion of the platform is in position 37b. When the solenoid is de-energized, the spring will again raise the hinged section to the position shown in Figure 1.

When the operator detects a portion of the web or material or cellophane which is of inferior quality he closes the switch 44 which is connected in series with the solenoid 43 to the power supply 45 by means of lines 46 and 47. By pressing the switch, the solenoid is actuated thus lowering the hinged portion 37a and the cut sheets, in spite of the vacuum, are fed up on to the platform 37. The solenoid 43 stays actuated until de-energized by the operator opening the switch 44. The vacuum of course must be so regulated as not to prevent the sheets from proceeding to platform 37. Further, when the prongs 39 are resting in the grooves 32 on drum 28, there is presented a smooth and continuous surface.

As the sheets come on to platform 37, they are caught and carried along by the narrow feed belts 48 and 48a on the top side of the sheet and 49 and 49a (the latter not shown but positioned like 49 on the opposite side of the machine) on the bottom side of the sheet. Belts 48 and 48a are connected between rolls 50 and 36 and rolls 51 and 36 respectively. Belt 49 is connected between rolls 52 and 53 and positioned beneath belt 48 and in contact with the same. Belt 4% is positioned in like manner under belt 48a.

The sheets of inferior quality or seconds are fed into the nip of roll 36 and drum 35 where the same operation takes place as described in connection with drum 28 and the sheets are stacked on the lift 54 similar to lift 34. The surface of drum 35 is also grooved and in connection therewith is a hinged portion 55a of platform 55 which is held in raised position by the tension spring 56 and lowered by armature 57 which in turn is actuated by solenoid 58. Solenoid 58 is connected in series with switch 59 to the power supply 45 by means of lines 46a and 47a. Thus the sheets may bypass the second stacking means and be sent on to a third classification or to waste by means of feed belts 60 similar to and arranged in like manner as those previously described.

While the invention has been described and shown with two stacking mechanisms or drums, it should be understood that one or more than two such means may be employed all of which would be exactly alike. It depends upon the number of different grades into which it is desired or necessary to classify the web material.

' For a description of the sheet lay up or stacking drum, reference should be had to Figures 35 of the drawing. Since all of the stacking drums employed are of like construction reference need be made to only one of the same.

As previously pointed out, the surface of drum 28 is grooved with the raised portions preferably being rubber covered in order not to scratch or mark certain sheet materials, such as cellophane. The drum is hollow and has fixedly mounted therein along its axis of rotation two vacuum chambers 61 and two compressed air chambers 62, there being one of each at both ends of the drum.

The vacuum chamber comprises a solid cylinder having a chamber or port 63 therein. Opening into the chamber is a vacuum line 64 which enters the drum through the end opening along the axis of the same. The vacuum line extends over to the other side of the drum and opens into the other vacuum chamber (not shown). About the cylindrical chamber 61 is a rotatable shell or sleeve 65 which rotates on the packing-seal 66 which extends about the periphery of the vacuum cylinder or chamber. Attached to the shell or sleeve 65 are two oppositely positioned conduits 67 which extend outwardly from the same to the openings 29 on the surface of the drum. These conduits are rigidly attached both to the shell 65 and drum 28 so that they rotate with the drum. The conduits periodically open and close the ports 63 at predetermined points, i. e. when they reach the position shown in Figure 4 the upper conduit has come well over the port 63 thus directing the vacuum to the drum surfaces where the leading edge of a sheet is picked up just prior to the position shown in Figure 1, and the lower conduit is about to pass over the port 63 to close ofi the vacuum at the surface of the drum and thereby release the sheet in stacking position as the lower conduit moves slightly beyond its position shown in Figure 1. It has been found convenient to employ two conduits such as 67. However, only one or more than two may be employed depending on the size sheet being stacked and the rapidity with which the same are cut.

The compressed air chamber 62 is similar in construction to the vacuum chamber except that the port 68 differs in size and shape. The chamber or port is cylindrical with a shell 69 rotatably mounted about the same, in the same manner as 65, and rotating on the packing-seal 70. Oppositely positioned conduits 71 extend outwardly to the openings 30 on the surface of the drum, the conduits being rigidly attached at one end to the shell 69 and at the other to the drum 28 so that they rotate with the drum. The compressed air conduits are positioned slightly back of the vacuum conduits in the direction of rotation (clockwise). An air line 72, adjacent the vacuum line 64, enters the drum along its axis of rotation and opens in the chamber 68 and continues to the other side of the drum to the second compressed air chamber (no-t shown).

As shown in Figures 1 and 5, the upper conduit has not yet reached the port 68 so that no air is being communicated to the drum surface through it. The lower conduit, however, is just about to pass over the port 68 having served its purpose of flattening out the sheet for rapid stacking.

The drum 28, and all others like it, is suitably and rotatably mounted on the panels 4 and 4a of the machine and driven in any convenient manner, there being a driving gear 73 mounted about the drum axis in the embodiment shown.

Thus by means of the present invention, a roll of web material is inspected, edge trimmed if necessary, cut into sheets, sorted, and stacked with great rapidity and continuously. There are a minimum number of movable mechanical parts in the present invention which are subject to wear and costly replacement, which is advantageous and results in a large economic saving.

It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for sorting relatively flimsy sheet material having a supply from which a continuous web of flimsy sheet material is fed into a path, means for cutting sheets from said web, and means for sorting and selectively transferring the cut sheets into a plurality of divergent paths, the improvement in said last-mentioned means which comprises a drum over which the sheets are fed, means for applying a vacuum to a limited area on the periphery of said drum to grip the leading edge of a sheet, means for supplying a fluid under pressure to a limited area on the periphery of said drum behind the aforesaid vacuum area, first valve means for sequentially opening and closing the vacuum applying means, and second valve means for opening the pressure supplying means after the vacuum valve means is open and closing the pressure supplying means before the vacuum valve means is closed, whereby the sheets are retained on the periphery of the drum by their leading edge and their trailing edge is blown radially outward away from the periphery of the drum preparatory to stacking the sheets.

2. In apparatus for sorting relatively flimsy sheet material having a supply from which a continuous web of flimsy sheet material is fed into a path, means for cutting sheets from said web, and means for sorting and selectively transferring the cut sheets into a plurality of divergent paths, the improvement in said last-mentioned means which comprises a drum mounted adjacent said cutting means over which the sheets are fed, means for applying a vacuum to a limited area on the periphery of said drum to grip the leading edge of a sheet, means for supplying a fluid under pressure to a limited area on the periphery of said drum behind the aforesaid vacuum area, first valve means for sequentially opening and closing the vacuum applying means, second valve means for opening the pressure supplying means after the vacuum valve means is open and closing the pressure supplying means before the vacuum valve means is closed whereby the sheets are retained on the periphery of the drum by their leading edge and their trailing edge is blown radially outward away from the periphery of the drum preparatory to stacking the sheets, and means positioned adjacent the periphery of the drum for selectively stripping cut sheets from the drum and directing them into a divergent path away from the periphery of the drum.

3. In apparatus for sorting relatively flimsy sheet material having a supply from which a continuous web of flimsy sheet material is fed into a path, means for cutting sheets from said Web, and means for sorting and selectively transferring the cut sheets into a plurality of divergent paths, the improvement in said last-mentioned means which comprises a drum mounted adjacent said cutting means over which the sheets are fed, means for applying a vacuum to a limited area on the periphery of said drum to grip the leading edge of a sheet, means for supplying a fluid under pressure to a limited area on the periphery of said drum behind the aforesaid vacuum area, first valve means for sequentially opening and closing the vacuum applying means, second valve means for opening the pressure supplying means after the vacuum valve means is open and closing the pressure supplying means before the vacuum valve means is closed whereby the sheets are retained on the periphery of the drum by their leading edge and their trailing edge is blown radially outward away from the periphery of the drum preparatory to stacking the sheets, and means operatively associated with the periphery of the drum for selectively stripping cut sheets from the drum, said means being operable to strip the sheets after the vacuum supplying valve has been opened and before the pressure supplying valve has been opened.

4. In apparatus for sorting relatively flimsy sheet material having a supply from which a continuous web or flimsy sheet material is fed into a path, means for cutting sheets from said web, and means for sorting and selectively transferring the cut sheets into a plurality of divergent paths, the improvement in said last-mentioned means which comprises a drum mounted adjacent said cutting means over which the sheets are fed, means for applying a vacuum to a limited area on the periphery of said drum to grip the leading edge of a sheet, means for supplying a fluid under pressure to a limited area on the periphery of said drum behind the aforesaid vacuum area, first valve means for sequentially opening and closing the vacuum applying means, second valve means for opening the pressure supplying means after the vacuum valve means is open and closing the pressure supplying means before the vacuum valve means is closed whereby the sheets are retained on the periphery of the drum by their leading edge and their trailing edge is blown radially outward away from the periphery of the drum preparatory to stacking the sheets, means operatively associated with the periphery of the drum for selectively stripping cut sheets from the drum, said means being operable to strip the sheets after the vacuum supplying valve has been opened and before the pressure supplying valve has been opened, and means for operating the stripping means.

5. In apparatus for sorting flimsy sheet material, the combination that comprises a rotary drum over which sheet material is fed, walls within the drum defining at least one first aperture on the periphery of the drum, means for feeding a sheet over said drum with the leading edge of the sheet in registry with said first aperture, walls within said drum defining at least one second aperture on the periphery of said drum, the second aperture being circumferentially spaced from said first aperture in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said drum, means for introducing a vacuum to the first aperture in synchronism with the feeding of the leading edge of a sheet to said first aperture, means for introducing a fluid under pressure to said second aperture, valve means controlling the opening and the closing of each of said vacuum means and fluid pressure means, the valve means being so timed with respect to each other that the vacuum aperture is open before the pressure aperture is open and the pressure aperture is closed before the vacuum aperture is closed, and means operatively associated with the periphery of the drum for stripping sheets from the drum.

6. Apparatus in accordance wtih claim having a series of vacuum apertures extending over a limited axial area on the periphery of the drum, and a series of pressure apertures extending over a limited axial area on the periphery of the drum.

7. In an apparatus for handling transparent sheet material having sheet material feeding means for directing sheet material along a substantially linear path, means for diverting the sheet material from said linear path to cause the material to pass through an inspection station, a cutter in the path through which the material is fed subsequent to the inspection station and stacking means, the improvement in the stacking means which comprises rotary pneumatic stacking means along a path positioned subsequent to the cutter, a vacuum chamber fixedly mounted in said stacking means along its axis of rotation, a pressure chamber fixedly mounted in said stacking means along its axis of rotation, conduit means connecting each of said chambers with selected openings in the periphery of the rotary stacking means, said conduit being rotatably mounted with respect to the chambers and rigidly secured to the inner surface of the stacking means, wall defining at least one circumferential groove on the periphery of said rotary stacking means, a prong pivotally supported along the path and positioned to extend into said groove, and means for selectively directing the prong into the groove.

Reterenees Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 700,239 Read May 20, 1902 1,007,080 Evans Oct. 31, 1911 1,107,254 Blackford Aug. 18, 1914 1,838,200 Tomtlund Dec. 29, 1931 1,968,941 Hall et al. Aug. 7, 1934 1,980,188 Cullen et al. Nov. 13, 1934 2,128,746 Joa Aug. 30, 1938 2,220,073 Belcher Nov. 5, 1940 2,229,638 Chamberlin et al. Jan. 28, 1941 2,282,909 Thiersch et al. May 12, 1942 2,341,956 Staude Feb. 15, 1944 2,383,523 Thornburgh Aug. 28, 1945 2,486,196 Nebolsine Oct. 25, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,562 Great Britain June 30, 1859 

